Expert would rather inform people about what they consume

FILE - In this May 31, 2012 file photo, a man leaves a 7-Eleven store with a Double Gulp drink, in New York. If New York City bans big sodas, what’s next? Large slices of pizza? Double-scoop ice cream cones? Tubs of movie-theater popcorn? The 16-ounce strip steak? Opponents of the proposed ban may use that slippery-slope argument along with other legal strategies to try to block the first-in-the-nation rule. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

FILE - In this May 31, 2012 file photo, a man leaves a 7-Eleven store with a Double Gulp drink, in New York. If New York City bans big sodas, what’s next? Large slices of pizza? Double-scoop ice cream cones? Tubs of movie-theater popcorn? The 16-ounce strip steak? Opponents of the proposed ban may use that slippery-slope argument along with other legal strategies to try to block the first-in-the-nation rule. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

If University of San Diego marketing professor Kenneth Bates were to toast New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on his proposed ban on extra-large sodas, that toast would be short and sweet. Something along the lines of, “Good luck with that.”

When it comes to consumers and our consuming habits, Bates is not opposed to bureaucratic intervention. In his research on nutrition and menu labeling, Bates discovered that diners need help with their food math. They are not good at calculating the caloric cost of meals they eat outside the home, and the more fattening and salty a dish is, the less able they are to estimate the nutritional damage.

So it is no surprise that Bates is a fan of California’s 2008 law making it mandatory for some restaurants to put calorie counts on their menus. When he considers Bloomberg’s proposed ban of sodas larger than 16 ounces, however, his cup of support does not runneth over.

“I think a ban is always a bad idea. For a food item, if we ban it, it is just going to be more desirable,” Bates said. “Now people can just say, ‘I can’t have a (32-ounce) Big Gulp, so I guess I’ll have two 20-ounce bottles instead.’ ”

If the New York City Board of Health votes in favor of Bloomberg’s proposal next month, sugary sodas in portions larger than 16 ounces would be banned in the Big Apple. But while New Yorkers would have to forgo their 32-ounce Cokes, Dr Peppers and Mountain Dews, the ban’s many loopholes mean they can still drown their deprived sorrows in giant coffee drinks, smoothies, milkshakes and diet drinks. And if the behaviors of nutritionally enlightened Californians are any indication, the caloric quaffing will go on.

In 2008, California restaurant chains were required to provide basic nutritional information on the foods and beverages they served, which they usually did via microscopically printed pamphlets or exhaustive information sheets stored behind the counter. In 2011, however, restaurants were required to print calorie counts directly on their menus and menu boards. Judgment day was upon us, and as it turned out, we didn’t really care.

“I don’t recall there being any noticeable shift. People pretty much stuck to their guns in what they were going to order,” said Ralph Rubio, co-founder of the San Diego-based Rubio’s restaurant chain. “People noticed, but they mostly said, ‘That’s nice that you’re giving me this information, thank you.’ And then they moved on. It’s not like people looked at the calories on the chicken quesadilla (1,200) and ran screaming out of the restaurant.”

At Rubio’s, the most popular item continues to be the Original Fish Taco at 300 calories a pop. The number was news to Bill Cable of the San Diego Housing Commission, who was wrapping up a taco lunch at the Rubio’s in Mission Valley. And in true consumer fashion, he was not fazed.

“I didn’t even notice it,” Cable said of the calorie count printed on the menu board. “I’m not that healthy of an eater anyway, so it wouldn’t have mattered.”